Monthly Archives: June 2014

Flan parisien – Parisian flan

Short story

The Parisian flan is a typical french dessert that you can find in any “pâtisserie” in France. It consists of baked custard and a shortcrust pastry base. It is typically made with eggs, cream or milk, starch and vanilla.

parisian flan

Yield: 8 portions

Ingredients

230g shortcrust pastry
500ml milk (could add some part of cream instead)
1 vanilla bean
200g sugar
4 eggs
70g corn starch (maizena)

Mango Charlotte

Charlotte’s story

Charlotte is a very tasty, elegant looking and easy to prepare summer cake that is quite popular in France. Its core is creamy fruit mousse, bordered all around with ladyfingers. It is really a very light cake, and great for pairing with different fruits. I’ve prepared my first version with mango and it came out very well. The second version was with rhubarb and raspberries; that recipe I will share with you another time. For now, enjoy this mango charlotte decorated with raspberries.

mango charlotte with raspberries

Yield: 4 portions

Ingredients:

Mango mousse:

1 big ripe mango – should yield around 300g mango flesh, cut into small pieces
50g + 10g sugar – depends on how sweet you want it to be
4 gelatin leaves
half of a lemon’s juice & and the grated zest (optional)
50g water
100g liquid cream
10-15 ladyfingers
Some fruit for the decoration according to your taste.

Three chocolate brownie

Brownies for chocolate lowers

Brownie is something between cake and cookie: crispy outside and soft inside….and a lot of chocolate! I’m a chocolate lover and these brownies with three types of chocolate are just delicious. Mm….enjoy!

three chocolate brownies

Yield: around 16-20 square brownies

Ingredients:

185g dark chocolate
185g butter
3 large eggs
250g sugar
85g flour
40g cacao powder
50g white chocolate
50g milk chocolate
50g walnuts

Vegetable – ham quiche

Adding some vegetables to the traditional Quiche Lorraine

I suppose that you have heard already about the traditional Quiche Lorraine – bacon, swiss cheese and onions mingle in perfect harmony with eggs and cream. I adore vegetables, thus I’ve created my own, vegetable-heavy variation of this quiche. I usually add some carrots and zucchini. I also like to make the quiche quite thick, so that it remains more juicy and flavorful; thus my quiche has a bit more eggs than a traditional quiche has. It’s perfect for dinner and with these quantities serves for four to five. Also, leftovers are delicious the next day, either cold or re-heated!

Vegetable – ham quiche

Yield: 4-5 portions

Ingredients:

7 eggs
150g smoked ham
250g shortcrust pastry
250g milk
100g cheese: swiss cheese or any kind of other cheese. I sometimes use “Boursin-style” cheese or even fresh goat cheese.
1 big onion
1 medium size zucchini
2-3 carrots
salt, pepper, nutmeg

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

A tasty alternative to traditional chocolate chip cookies

I suppose that everyone knows the american-style chocolate chip cookies: crunchy outside and soft inside, combined with the wonderful taste of chocolate chips. To make these cookies a bit more healthy, I usually add oats and it actually taste even better. So, enjoy!

chocolate-oat cookies

Yield: around 15 medium size cookies

Ingredients:

80g minced oats
80g flour
80g butter (at room temperature )
80g brown or white sugar
60-50g chocolate chips or chocolate (I used dark chocolate chopped into small pieces )
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
optional: chopped nuts, raisins